Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/2199

Rh Rights Generally, Capable of being Acquired by Prescription.—In most cases a right to water, or a right of way, or any other easement such as the right to carry on a business in a particular manner, may be acquired by uninterrupted enjoyment for twenty years. Such is the general rule, but its application to particular cases may, in the infinite variety of circumstances, require qualification.

PURCHASE OF HOUSE, Loan by Local Authority for purpose of

Under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899, any local authority may advance money to a resident in a house within their district for the purpose of enabling him to acquire the ownership of it, provided that the market value of the house does not, in the opinion of the local authority, exceed £400. The advance cannot exceed (a)four-fifths of that which the local authority consider to be the market value of the ownership; nor (b) £240, or, in the case of a freehold, or a leasehold of not less than ninety-nine years unexpired at the date of the purchase, £300: and must be repaid with interest within such period, not exceeding thirty years from the date of the advance, as may be agreed upon. The interest will be at such rate as may be agreed upon, not exceeding 10s above the rate at which the local authority can at the time borrow the money. The payment may be made either by equal instalments of principal, or by an annuity of principal and interest combined, and all payments on account of principal or interest will be payable either weekly or at such periods, not exceeding a half year, as may be agreed upon. "Ownership" means a freehold interest, or a leasehold interest in possession of at least sixty years unexpired at the date of the purchase. The "local authority" is the council of the county or county borough, as the case may be, except where the district council have undertaken to carry out the Act.

RATES

By Whom Payable.—The occupier is, as a general rule, the person liable for the payment of poor and other local rates charged on the property, which may be, and usually are, levied under one demand note. To the general rule, however, there are the following statutory exceptions:—

The occupier of any premises let for a term not exceeding three months is entitled to deduct from his rent any sum paid by him in respect to rates. And no such occupier can be compelled to pay at one time, or within four weeks, a greater amount of the rate than would be due for one quarter.

In the case of small holdings, that is to say, where the rateable value of the property does not exceed £20 in the Metropolis, or £13 in Liverpool, or £10 in Manchester, or Birmingham, or £8 elsewhere, if the owner is willing to agree with the overseers that he will be responsible for the payment of the rates for a period of not less than a year, whether the premises be occupied or not, he may obtain a commission not exceeding 25 per cent. It is also open to the vestry to order the owner of such property to be rated instead of the occupier, subject, however, to a certain abatement or deduction. An outgoing or incoming tenant, leaving or entering, as the case may be, during the currency of the period in respect to which a rate has been made, may obtain an apportionment of the rate applicable to the time during which he actually occupied the premises.

Rateable Property.—Rates are payable in respect to any land or house which is in use or occupation. Though a house may not have been inhabited at all during the period for which a rate is levied, it is none the less "occupied" for the purposes of rating if it was furnished and capable of being lived in.